“Fairy tale fans will surely appreciate WILD FREEDOM, which beautifully celebrates a person’s efforts to heal and reimagine themselves through art. . . ”
When someone experiences tremendous loss or betrayal, an important way to navigate that hurt is through reclamation of the story and of themselves.
Dale M. Kushner first wrote WILD FREEDOM: The Princess Who Found Her Name (On Fairy Tales, Imagination and the Creative Mind) during an interlude that she refers to as “bewitchment.” Her writing of this story, and the distance she created between herself and the tale of the Littlest Princess, allowed her to experience a freedom she did not know was possible. The fairy tale follows the Littlest Princess, who struggles to exist outside toxic family dynamics, intense envy, and what many readers might recognize as harmful, self-sabotaging people-pleasing. The Littlest Princess only manages to begin to disentangle herself from these dark elements and heal when she takes a courageous step to learn who she is outside of that darkness and claim her own name.
In addition to being a prolific writer, Kushner is also a Jung-inspired theorist. Readers with some experience with Carl Jung’s psychoanalytical research will recognize themes of individuality, desire, and fear stemming from the unconscious (as well as contrasts of light and dark). These complex themes are made new and accessible in what is already a delightful tale, yet they offer more layers to the more discerning reader. They become especially clear during the Littlest Princess’s transformation; the moment is empowering and definitely the right choice to help her become her own person—a clear mark of individuation and self-authentication.
Jung’s observations are expanded upon in WILD FREEDOM, as this is not just a fairy tale; it's a fairy tale with a series of companion essays that explore its themes from fellow Jungian theorists. That includes Murray Stein, Dariane Pictet, Henry Abramovitch, and Kenneth W. James (who wrote the foreword). These essays further enrich the tale itself, as well as what readers can take away from it. The essays dive deep into such themes as imagination, mystery, the unconscious mind, self-authentication, individuation, and, most importantly, rebirth. All of this expands a delightful, vulnerable, and heartrending story into a work that celebrates individuality and reclamation at a highly intellectual (and arguably spiritual) level.
Fairy tale fans will surely appreciate WILD FREEDOM, which beautifully celebrates a person’s efforts to heal and reimagine themselves through art.
Dale M. Kushner's WILD FREEDOM: The Princess Who Found Her Name (On Fairy Tales, Imagination and the Creative Mind) is a smart, vulnerable, and metafictional fairy tale. While celebrating self-authentication and reclamations of name, desire, and agency, it also explores the important Jungian psychoanalytical themes of toxic family dynamics, entanglement, and individuality.
—McKenzie Lynn Tozan for IndieReader (5-star rating)
